Sikhism

The ego seeks security from the world and even when it comes to the truth, it still wants to somehow uphold its security. It is all right if one wants to guarantee one's security against the world. But when it comes to truth and beauty, that's when one should just drop the defenses. It is all right to be immersed. It is all right even to be drowned. It is all right even to die. What is the point in conserving something that is anyway imperfect?

Can Nature Worship in the Vedas Hold Deeper Meaning Today?

14 min

The higher meaning is desirelessness. You cannot worship something with a view to obtain favors from it. That's exploitation. That's consumption. So the real kind of nature worship that we talk of, let's say, in durga saptshati, that's different. That's where the relationship is not of bhog.

Why Do We Insult Our Scriptures?

27 min

In modern times, reading and respecting the Shastras is often seen in a derogatory light. An Asura disregards the scriptures, saying, “What I know is right. My own experience determines the Truth,” rejecting them because they will not allow him to do what he wants. We have come to a point where we are not merely ignoring but actually insulting the scriptures. If you're sincere about knowing life, why avoid a document with deep insights into it?

Letting Go of Habitual Affirmations: Is It Key to Spiritual Growth?

23 min

The purpose of all instruments of religion, methods of religion is to unblock. The truth is here, there, inside, outside, everywhere. But there is a blockage. That blockage is called the ego. The ego prevents the truth from coming to itself. So, religion is a device, a tool so that Truth can flow to the ego. The ego wants to defend itself against the truth because once the truth flows in, it dissolves the ego.

Who Is a Hindu?

The one who is religion-less. A real Hindu does not have any religion. To go beyond all religions is to be a Hindu. There are religions that are on one plane, and then there is Sanatan Dharma, which is another dimension — the eternal religiousness. Liberation from religion is religiousness. Sanatan Dharma is awakened intelligence.

Living a selfish life? || Neem Candies

1 min

People talk of personal time as opposed to professional time, right? They forget that the profession that they have chosen has also been chosen by the person. So, even that which they are mistakenly calling as professional time is only personal time.

Our lives have only personal time. To be… read_more

A Life Like Bhagat Singh's

How occupied Bhagat Singh was. Even on the eve of his hanging, he was still reading the Bhagavad Gita. He said, "I still have a few hours. Let me spend these hours with the beloved. I have something very important to do." Or was he doing nothing in particular? Was he doing nothing in particular even in his last hours? No. He said, "Let me spend this time reading." And he was a voracious reader. At your age, he was so well read. Never had any time to waste.

What Sanatan Dharma Is Not

Sanatan Dharma is not about following traditions in the name of Dharma. It is about constantly moving towards that which will take you beyond your mind: the Sanatan. All our beliefs and rituals might be religious, but they are not Sanatan because they are just mind stuff. Since both Sanatan Dharma and Vedanta discard mind stuff as trivial, one cannot be a Sanatani if one is not a Vedanti.

Finding God Is Easy, Tolerating Him Is Difficult

19 min

Acharya Prashant: Suffering is a fire that burns down a lot. It brings along a certain purification. One of the poets gave the example of a snowball. Snowball that is cleansing itself in its own blood; by melting down. When a snowball starts melting, it starts becoming cleaner. And the… read_more

Why Do We Celebrate Kumbh?

The story, the myth, is elaborate, but one word that firmly dictates the narrative of the Kumbh saga is immortality. Immortality is to live deeply, not necessarily long. It is to go to one’s deepest desire, fulfill it, and extinguish it forever. Another Kumbh beckons us. Can we go beyond the ritualistic dip and honestly observe life as it is, within and around us?

Acharya Prashant Interviewed By Kip Andersen (#Christspiracy) || Religion And Animals

Now, how does man relate with the world? How does man know what to do, how to approach, how to touch, how to live, how to eat, how to talk, how to connect? That, to me, is the essence of religion. Man’s relationship with himself and the world. That is religion, and that is also the essence of all organized religions.

Death: Destiny, Karma, And Divine Intervention

11 min

There is no divine intervention. There is prakriti. Prakriti does not brook any intervention from any quarter. Just happened. If you look for a reason, there isn’t any. Randomness is the reason.

The Means Is as Important as the End

3 min

And then there are those who actually really practically want liberation. Those who really and practically want liberation, find out the means to be liberated. The Guru is the means. Nanak sahab says, “Now that you know so much about God, the absolute, you must also know how the absolute is to be reached.”

Prakriti, Attention and Truth

You rather have to be relaxed and just receptive. It comes to you. You don't have to chase it. You simply have to unlock your door, and these two are very different approaches. What does the devotee do? He just opens his doors and waits, calmly waits. He doesn't want to enforce his will. Non-resistance. Active pursual would all be within yourself. You are actively pursuing the beyond within yourself.

When You are Alright, then the Sound of Your Footsteps Is Compassion

9 min

When you are not bothered about the other, that is when you are totally compassionate. When you are not trying to change the other, that is when you become an agent of change. Compassion is not about thinking all the time of others. You cannot try to be compassionate. When you are alright, then the sound of your footsteps is compassion. That is what compassion is.

Is Self-Love About Being Happy?

Making yourself happy isn't self-love. Self-love is gifting yourself the highest possible. If you do not know what to give yourself, at least abstain from giving yourself toxic and harmful things. Real love is always tough. Self-love is an exercise in reduction, not accumulation. When you work to make your life beautiful, you are truly loving yourself.

The Joy of Being Drenched in Love

13 min

Usually our love is about one special thing or person. But Kabir Sahab is saying, "Hari bhai ban rai—the entire jungle has turned green. I see greenery not merely in one tree, but in the entire jungle.” That’s the difference between common love and Kabir Sahab’s love. In your love, there is just one green tree; in Kabir Sahab’s love, the entire world has turned green: there is nothing dry anywhere anymore.

Do Love And Attachment Go Together?

Attachment is just a promise. A lack of fulfilment. It is a substitute for love because the real thing is not available. If you find yourself attached, it means there is a desire for love; it means there is a call for love. Know that a fake is presenting itself as a substitute for the real thing.

Understanding Death Rituals: Is it Okay to Forego Them?

Existentially and Absolutely, no issues at all. By existence, I mean this prakritik existence. Absolutely meaning at the level of the Truth, Self, Atman. No problems at all. Nobody’s going to bother. There is nobody to bother. But mentally, yes, the whole affair has to be tactfully managed. There has to be resolve within and tact outside, and then it’s alright.

What Does Equanimity Mean in Life?

When you know that you can not be harmed, then you let the change come to you. Then, you do not lose your inner poise in front of changing conditions. This is equanimity. For equanimity, you require a very good driver, a totally dependable driver. Our driver is the Ego. It does not allow the Absolute to drive us. The Ego is so arrogant that it goes and sits on the throne, the sacred place, that is reserved only for the Beloved, only for God. It has no right to be there. Dethrone it!

Are You Spiritual or Religious? (The Difference Is Big)

If you are really a spiritual person, then you will find that the community that opposes you the most is not of atheists, it is of religious people. They will be the ones who would be opposing the really spiritual person the most, which is an unfortunate thing because the way religion was designed, it was designed to gradually make a person spiritual. Today, the situation is that these are not in sync or harmony with each other. Rather, these two have become greatly separated.

God's Presence Everywhere: What Does It Really Mean?

6 min

Gita and philosophy and Vedanta have nothing to do with God. They are in search of Truth, not God. These are different things — Truth and God. Secondly, all the objects that you look at, you look at them in search of something. In search of the Truth, you look at all these objects. In that sense you could say, I am looking at everything in search of the absolute. To the ego, everything carries a promise, a possibility of the absolute. That does not mean that all the objects that you look at contain the infinite or something.

Without this, all is worthless || Acharya Prashant, on Guru Kabir (2019)

What’s New About the New Year?

If you cannot win the love of the Lord, so what if you can lord over your neighbor? What is the good of dressing your hair and donning your feet with jingling jewelry? What is the value of all your makeup with kajal to your eyelids and vermilion to your … read_more

No "New Year" will give you the "new." So many New Years have come and gone, only to become old years. If you want the new, why do you stick to the old? The new, the happiness you are looking for, will not come through experience. Look around, look at your relationships, look at your mind, your thoughts, and maybe you will suddenly cry out, “The looking itself is new.”

Why Are You Scared of Truth?

There is nothing more scary than the Truth. The primary function of Truth is to negate all your falseness, to show you that you are living in lies. Truth supports you in the sense that, without its help, you cannot even see falseness. Truth cannot be pleasant to what we are. Truth can only be pleasant to the Truth. Before the Real can come, this false one must disappear.

10 New Year Resolutions Suggested by Acharya Prashant

Man has always been attracted to the new. But attraction alone is not enough, especially when one is resistant to leaving the old ways. 'New' comes with an opportunity to change, and equally with a responsibility to act upon that change. Bridging this gap between attraction and action, Acharya Prashant guides us with practical resolves that possess the potential to bring real development—if followed honestly!

What Does Jesus Represent?

Jesus is not a mere mortal. He is the source of light, the root of all flowers and beauty. Jesus stands for the Truth, and Truth is omnipresent. In one form, he disappears; in another, he arises again. Prophets don’t come and go—they live forever. Going back into the past to look for them is the tragedy of the living. He is here, right now, in the hearts of those who love him.

How to Deal with Attachment?

Attachment is not a problem; the problem is being attached to something totally unworthy. If you are attached to someone, check out the facts of their importance. Ask yourself, “Does this person bring Truth, Fearlessness & Light into my life?” If you have been wise enough, or simply lucky enough to have the right person in your life, then continue to remain attached. But assess them well with Truth at your core.

Why Does One Desire Liberation while the Other does not?

Is Religion Merely Superstition?

Questioner: Why is there a difference of intensity and love for mukti (liberation) between different human beings?

Acharya Prashant: The differences that you are talking of all relate to time; therefore, they all will be resolved in due course of time. Time gave rise to all those differences, and those… read_more

11 min

Religion concerns itself with ‘Ego and its liberation!’ That’s all. In the name of religion, if you are talking about planets and stars, about fruits and vegetables, wear this, don’t wear that, eat this, don’t eat that, the house should face this direction, and a thousand other things that you associate with it, then all that is some kind of tribal superstition. Religion has nothing to do with these things.

Is Death Always There, or Is Life Itself Death?

The sword is hanging over everybody’s head. It can fall here or there. Nobody is conspiring against anybody, and nobody has been blessed with special fortune. There is a random chance it falls here; it falls there. I am not talking of cases in which, let’s say, the family atmosphere is so toxic that it compels a couple of members to commit suicide. I am not talking of such cases. I am talking of accidental deaths. Accidental deaths are exactly that: accidents.

Are You in a Right Relationship?

There are only two kinds of relationships that are right in this world. If you connect with someone at a higher level of consciousness, hold their hand so they can uplift you. If you connect with someone at a lower level of consciousness, hold their hand to uplift them. Any other kind of relationship is junk.

Living a Life of Dignity

3 min

Acharya Prashant: The Buddha used to quote three types of horses. Coming from his palatial background, it seems he was fond of horses. So, he would say that the worst type of horses are those that move only when spanked. That’s how our energy rises—it rises upon spanking. When there… read_more

Is Religion Patriarchal? Exploring Its Impact on Women's Lives

30 min

Vedānta is about the person gaining liberation from both of these—body identification and mental conditioning. So, ideally spirituality should be the woman’s best friend. But practically, evidence has been rather mixed; in fact, evidence has been that religion historically has been on the side of the oppressors when it comes to the women, oppressors of the women. The reason is that religion itself has not been well understood. Religion itself has been a victim of contamination, and when religion is contaminated then religion becomes a tool towards exploitation of women.

How to Cope with a Loved One's Death?

To the loved ones who have died, pay the holiest tribute possible. There are others still here; ensure you have right relationships with them. If a relationship is right, the end won't hurt much. The end might even be glorious, a true pinnacle. The relationship was an upward journey all along, and death now becomes the peak of that connection.

Is Sex and Meditation Just an Escape of Ego?

The ego says that my first priority is to remain, exist, and after that comes everything else. Even the Truth must be subservient to my first priority. So, liberation is alright as long as it is a second of liberation. Peace is alright as long as it is five minutes of peace. But if silence threatens to take over the entire life, if peace starts dominating noise to the extent that the noise might be completely annihilated, then the ego rejects. The ego wants Truth, but only a modicum of Truth. The ego wants peace, but only a sliver of peace.

Beware of Those Suggesting to Avoid Reading Scriptures

9 min

It’s far easier to sit on a greatly decorated stage and talk about the virtues of Rudrākṣa, and what kind of water to drink, and why copper is useful; and all kinds of pseudo-scientific nonsense. But to really speak upon a Kabir or an Ashtavakra requires a tremendous understanding which does not come to everybody. If you are a spiritual teacher and you are saying you have not read any scripture, that raises questions on your love for the Truth.

Fight, and Fight So Hard That You Either Win or Perish (On Guru Tegh Bahadur)

9 min

Fight, and perish fighting. If you win, glory is yours. If you perish, at least all suffering is gone. Is that not a great way to live? Fight, and fight so hard that you either win, or perish.

Fighting your Weakness is more Important than Fighting the Enemy

3 min

Acharya Prashant: A fly comes and sits on my arm here (pointing towards the arm), I reject it, I discard it – Is the game over? Is she not ever going to return? Why? Because I discarded the fly and not my arm, so irrespective of how strong your resistance… read_more

The Robot's ego

The Total Is Neither Masculine nor Feminine, Hence the Search and Summit of Both

Questioner: Sir, I want to ask, Robot doesn’t have ego. So, now what is the intersection between the urge towards freedom and your ego?

Acharya Prashant: You could say, the robot does have an ego planted into it by its designer. Therefore, the ego of the robot is totally in… read_more

There is hardly any need to give special attention to the so-called masculine and feminine because neither the masculine really exists nor the feminine really exists. We talk about them because our mind is obsessed with gender, with sex; with women, with men; all dualities are the same. In fact, there is only one duality, called “duality”. The two ends of that duality can be given any name.

How to Control One’s Anger? Best Ways Explained By Acharya Prashant

Don’t ask, “Why did I get angry?” Ask, “Why does guilt arise? Why this divided mind? Why can’t my anger be complete?” Does resisting anger not fuel it? In trying to control yourself, are you not giving yourself energy to act the same way? That’s duality’s principle—what you try to control, you energize. By saying, “I do not want to get angry,” you’re still thinking of anger. But anger is seductive. Anger attracts. So, now I think of anger through the other route. I think of anger by telling myself not to be angry.

How to surrender?

22 min

Questioner: Due to my conditioning and fear, mind tries to perceive some ‘thing’ to surrender to. This stops me from actually surrendering. With this conflict, how to understand if there is any movement towards the centre, or is it all at the periphery?

Acharya Prashant: The inner and the outer… read_more

What Is Prayer? Acharya Prashant on Guru Nanak

Prayer is not an activity; it is your very being. "So you cannot pray; you can only be full of prayer." Prayer is the silent call of the mind. The deeper the silence, the truer the prayer. The noisier the mind, the more it is desire, not prayer. True prayer asks for nothing; it’s simply being prayerful in every movement of the mind—eating, walking, talking.

Is Knowing the Truth a Never-Ending Quest?

41 min

“The significance of a man is not in what he attains, but rather what he longs to attain.” -Khalil Gibran, ‘Sand and Foam’

Question: Once during a discourse on the Bible, you too have said, “The more you know the Truth, the more you want to know; such is … read_more

Love or Knowledge: Which is More Powerful for Liberation?

Why Others Can't Fulfill Your Expectations

Acharya Prashant: Love is the fire that melts down the bondage that is you. Knowledge is merely the light in which you can see your bondages. Even if you are able to look at your chains in the light of knowledge, that does not rid you of the chains. In… read_more

6 min

The movies tell us that unless there is a special person in your life, you are really missing out on something big and you are seized by FOMO. What is FOMO? Fear of missing out. "Oh my god! Everybody has that. I am the only one left behind. I must also have a partner, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, a husband, a wife, something. Hey, go grab somebody." So you go out and grab some Johnny next door. He was busy washing his sandals, and you went up to him and threw your most seductive smile and then he too was infected by FOMO. He said, "Now that I have the opportunity, why shouldn't I capitalize?" And thus, came about the relationship. And you call it a holy bond made in heaven. Why do we do that?

Where Is the Real Me?

You've Had Enough of This Person

Acharya Prashant: It has been told to us that there exist two centers. I suppose it has been very freshly told to you right? Very recently. He says, “How do I know that I am living out of the right center? How does a young man know whether he’s not… read_more